


Back to Bastogne

by Emono



Series: God, This War Is Gay [2]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, M/M, Mpreg, Pack Dynamics, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slight AU because there's no mpreg in the original series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 06:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8963860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emono/pseuds/Emono
Summary: Their first Christmas after the war is so rushed and overshadowed by Carwood's pregnancy that they don't really notice it. The second Christmas comes around and Carwood finds out he's caught again, and this year he's determined to celebrate properly and start the traditions that would give their children happy memories. But when the snow falls, the memory of Bastogne and Foy come back full force. Dick, Lewis, and Ron all deal with their pain differently while Carwood funnels his into making the best Christmas possible. There's just one problem - Ron doesn't want Christmas at all, and he's clammed up tight about it. They all have a lot to talk about, especially since Carwood's hiding the good news of their second kid. Will that be enough to shake the Christmas time blues?Spoiler, it totally does. Bonus Luztoye!!(Takes place after "Old Fashioned Romance"





	

**Author's Note:**

> Oh shit its almost Christmas I meant to post this sooner. But hey, here's some angst and then some amazing fluff. Get ready for the family feels. I feel like utter shit so I decided posting would make me feel better. ALSO - how does mpreg work in my universe? I think the scientific name for it is "suspended disbelief because the author is tired"

**Easy Company was disbanded in November 1945.**

**So here's a quick summary of the ending of "Old Fashioned Romance":**

 

**Lewis and Dick move to New Jersey after the war, Ron and Lip move back to Lip’s home to take care of the business and kind of break the news about him having four mates to his mom. Then, when Lip gets pregnant, they move themselves (and Lip’s mom) to New Jersey to start up new lives. And Christmas time blues begin.**

**This is technically an AU of that fic because there's no mpreg possible in the main fic. Guess what? IT TOTALLY HAPPENS HERE WELCOME TO THE GUTTER MY FRIENDS**  
  


 

* * *

 

 

The first Christmas after Easy Company’s disbandment was just Ron and Carwood, and Carwood’s mother. Carwood spent the time getting reacquainted with his mother and refamiliarizing himself with the inn and helping his brother stabilize it (his brother was a good man but it was a big job for one person). Ron learned the ropes as well and helped them organize their books, using his accounting degree for one of the first times in his life. They both struggled to adjust back to civilian life, especially separated from their two mates as they were. 

 

They knew it was for the best. Each one of them needed to tidy up the lives they left behind before they all reformed into the complicated relationship they were facing. But they all wrote each other nearly every day. It was almost absurd to write about the everyday, boring routines but each letter in return was a treasure. It was all they had. Lewis sent packages and money despite Lipton’s fierce protest that he could earn his own living and Dick wrote long letters full of flowing script and heartfelt words.

 

Christmas and the harsh drudge of civilian life were forgotten with one doctor’s visit. Carwood was pregnant. Had been since the Eagle’s Nest, maybe even before. 

 

And suddenly it was all any of them could think about. Christmas passed in a colorful, ignored blur as Lewis and Dick came to visit and spoil their mate, meeting his family and introducing themselves very carefully. Especially his mother. She was quite an old fashioned woman but they were at their absolute best and overly charming and she accepted them as reluctantly as she had Ron. It would be a long process but now with the baby on the way they forged a plan.

 

By June, Lewis had bought a house more than big enough for all of them in New Jersey. Jobs were set up, Carwood’s brother given the inn, his mother’s approval to move granted, a nursery was planned, and the big move finally happened. Carwood’s mom was given a room in a high end care ward with a stunning view of the skyline. They decorated the house to their liking and got as settled in as they could before the due date came up.

 

Gabriel Winters was born to four beaming, proud fathers on July 16th, 1946. He came into the world with big hazel eyes and grew a crop of shockingly dark hair. They knew right away he was Ron’s.  

 

So when Christmas of ‘46 came around and Carwood found out he was pregnant yet again, he kept it to himself. This year there would be a celebration. This year, he was going to give his first born the best Christmas he could manage to throw together.

 

There was just one problem.  _ Ron _ . 

 

o0o0o0o

 

Nixon Nitration Works didn’t run itself. It was a pretty big corporation with a lot of jobs on the line along with a sensitive, expensive product. Lewis thought he’d come home to a throne while his father did all the work but Stanhope Lewis was much too preoccupied with his divorce and his new wife and dumped the whole company in his son’s lap the second he returned from war. 

 

Lewis would’ve drowned if he hadn’t had his Alpha right by his side. Dick kept him propped up, so to speak, so he could properly throw himself into his work. With his mate as his right hand, they managed to steady the business and get it back on track. But the hours were long. They often both came home mentally and physically exhausted. Their positions at the chemical company were almost like being back at Toccoa as they wrangled rowdy youngsters and made them focus, disciplined them, and trained managers to micromanage what they didn’t have time for. 

 

They weren’t negligent with their mates but they weren’t home as much as they wanted to be. Carwood was working on getting his Engineering degree, something they heavily encouraged and supported. Carwood stayed home with little Gabriel and they had a sitter for when he had classes and their mate couldn’t have been happier. Ron worked at Army recruitment centers and training camps all over New York, he had his own car to travel to different places week to week to give lectures and give the value of his experience.

 

Between the four of them (five of them, with the little one), at least two were home at the same time. It was a mess of scheduling but it had stretches of calm where they truly got to enjoy each other. That meant every night they had at home with the whole family was special.  _ Family _ . That’s what it was.

 

But that sometimes meant that some of them got left out of the loop when things went wrong. 

 

o0o0o0o

 

The snow came early in ‘46. And when it fell the memories of Bastogne came rushing back to the forefront. They all dealt with it a little differently.

 

Lewis picked his head up from his paperwork to take a drink of lukewarm coffee when he saw it. Big fluffy flakes falling softly like a Hallmark movie. It was gentle and quiet, barely brushing the wide windows of his office. “Look at that.”

 

Dick glanced up from the contract he was reviewing, eyeing the snow over the rim of his glasses. He made a discontent noise before getting back to the papers.

 

When they bundled up to call a cab and go home, it was still snowing. It was as pretty as a postcard as New Jersey passed by them in a flurry of snow through the car windows. Dick busied himself rereading a different contract and marking it with his pencil where it would need redone but Lewis rested his chin on his fist and watched the snow. The city looked so nice dusted in white and he enjoyed the sight. It reminded him of luxurious Christmases with his family. And though his family was rather stiff with their love, he was always spoiled in presents and sweets. He couldn’t wait to spoil his own child the same way.

 

“Why the sour face?” Lewis teased as they got out of the cab down the street from their house. He chuckled as thick flakes gathered on his mate’s coat and hair, teasing his long lashes. Dick was such a strong figure of an Alpha and the snow softened him into something ethereal, a stag among sheep. 

 

Dick shrugged and shelled out a couple bills to the driver, closing the door. He kept his briefcase close as he followed his mate down the sidewalk, shoulders hunched. “I just don’t like the cold.”

 

“Humbug,” Lewis teased as he tilted his head back, tongue out to catch a few flakes. He laughed to himself as they got in his lashes and he rubbed them out. “I love the snow. You can’t tell Jersey from New York when it’s all covered up like this. And this is the real pretty stuff too. It won’t ice up the roads.”

 

Dick grunted and tucked his scarf closer around him.

 

“You big grump,” Lewis tisked as they got to the steps of their home. “Wait until the rugrat is big enough to build snowmen and throw snowballs.  _ Then  _ you’ll change your tune.”

 

Dick finally broke a smile as he thought of their Gabriel a little bigger and packing snow with his tiny mittens, smiling and trying to pelt them all. They’d go sledding and do all those fun winter things. But all Dick could think of right now was foxholes and distant gunfire, the deep shadows of snowy nights and the every present fear of artillery.

 

The front door opened and their Omega mate emerged, bundled up from gloves to hat. He had his satchel on one hip and Gabriel on the other. “And there’s Daddy right on time.”

 

Dick rushed up the steps to greet him, kissing him firm on the mouth. “Car, baby.”

 

Carwood passed him Gabriel, the baby gurgling happily and clinging on to the Alpha. “Hey. I’m running behind and I have to hurry to class. His formula is ready in the fridge and he’s just up from his nap. He should be real good for you.”

 

“You act like we’re babysitters.” Lewis stole a quick kiss from the Omega before he was heading down the steps. “We’re his fathers. We can handle him.”

 

Gabriel suddenly cried out, sharp and quick. Carwood chuckled fondly before he went back up the steps and pressed a warm kiss to each of his son’s cheeks, then his forehead. “Daddy loves you, Gabe.”

 

Dick was admiring his little family so much that he made a surprised noise when Carwood hooked a finger in his tie and tugged him into a kiss. “And you.”

 

Lewis beamed and bounced a little, raising his eyebrows when Carwood turned to him. The Omega rolled his eyes before giving him another kiss, this one much firmer. “And you too, I guess.”

 

“Go learn something,” Dick shooed, laying his gloved hand over Gabriel’s head to protect him from the snow tha trickled off the awning over their door. 

 

“Will do!”

 

And then their Omega was off down the sidewalk to find a cab. 

 

o0o

 

For all of Lewis’s happy rants about snow and city Christmas lights, he was the first to get violent nightmares. They all had their own horrors that crept into their dreams - a bullet grazing too close, a man hit next to them in the heat of battle, their lost friends. But the move and Gabriel had been a big distraction. The snow destroyed that fragile shield. 

 

They started out quiet enough. He’d wake up groggy and discontent, needing a spike in his morning coffee to shake the feeling of dread. Then the memories came back in flashes. He’d jerk awake with his ears ringing from old artillery shells, temple burning from the bullet that almost took him from this world. The smell of burnt pine and flesh and gunpowder would sear his nose so badly he’d wake up coughing. The more snow fell, the worse his nights got. Sometimes he could get away with it, other nights it was impossible. 

 

Lewis woke up screaming. He throat felt like it was ripping itself apart and he could taste blood. He swore there was ash between his teeth. He scrubbed a shaking hand across his mouth but it was nothing that could be wiped away.  He was trembling all over and there was a chill in his bones despite the warmth of his mates beneath the blankets all around him. He was coated in a slimy film of sweat, his clothes and sheet sticking to him. He’d been running, running toward  _ something _ . It came back to him in a violent burst.

 

Carwood’s bloody face, wide panicked eyes, grasping hands...Ron, in Foy, the mortar now finding their target. Both blown away to dust and grit.

 

“Lew?” his Omega murmured, rubbing his eyes beside him. 

 

Lewis tried to catch his breath to say he was fine but his lungs were burning.

 

There was a muffled sob down the hall before a full blown cry.  _ Gabriel _ . He’d woken his son up with his caterwauling. 

 

Carwood struggled to sit up, blinking hard and trying to shake off the heavy weight of sleep. Lewis grabbed his mate’s shoulder and hushed him. “Stay. I woke him.”

 

Carwood looked to him with a frown. “What’s wrong? Were you yelling?”

 

“ ‘nother nightmare?” Ron slurred into his pillow, on his belly on Carwood’s other side. One arm had fallen over the side of the bed in his sprawl.

 

On Lewis’s left, Dick sucked in a noisy breath as he woke. “What’s wrong?” His voice was hoarse with sleep and his weren’t open but his concern was clear. 

 

“Everyone shut up and go back to sleep,” Lewis groused as he climbed over Dick and padded across the room to the door. He slipped out and left them to hopefully forget what had happened.

 

Dick gave it a few minutes before he hauled himself out of bed to check on Lewis. He crept down the hallway to the open door of the nursery and peered inside. The moonlight was pouring in through the window. It fell on the corner rocking chair like a curtain, illuminating his mate and their first born son. Gabriel seemed to be already falling back to sleep but the Alpha was clutching him in the cradle of his arms like he was the most precious thing in the world. Lewis’s eyes were closed but his breaths were ragged as he tried to fight off the memory of the nightmare, mouth pressed to the top of his son’s head. 

 

It hurt to see his mate struggling but he knew if he tried to help Lewis would either bulk or shrug him off. The pain was so clear on Lewis’s face but he was a thousand miles away in Belgium, lost in the Ardennes forest with only tiny little Gabriel to guide him back to the present. 

 

“It’s okay, kiddo, it’s okay,” he could hear him muttering to himself, eyes clenching tight as a little tremble went through his shoulders. 

 

Dick forced himself to turn around and go back to the bedroom. Lewis needed time alone with their son and would return when he was ready. Dick slipped into the bedroom to see their Omega sitting up and expectantly staring.  

 

“Give him time,” Dick whispered, holding out his palm. “He just needs an hour with Gabe to calm down.”

 

Carwood rubbed his eyes, clearly exhausted but fighting to stay awake. “He should be here with us.”

 

Dick shook his head. “He’ll be okay in there, sweetheart.”

 

Carwood weakly pushed at the covers. “I’ll go-”

 

“Car,” Ron grunted, still sprawled on his stomach with his eyes closed. He hadn’t moved an inch. “Leave him be.”   
  


 

“I’m his Omega,” Carwood protested, fighting off a yawn. “I can help.”

 

“You want too much,” Ron muttered, already falling back to sleep. 

 

Dick crawled into bed and laid a gentle hand on Carwood’s shoulder, urging him back down into the plush pillows. “Let’s just lay down and relax. You can wait for him to come back in on his own.”

 

Carwood huffed but the moment his head hit the pillow his eyelids drooped. “Just for a few minutes.”

 

“Yeah. A few minutes. I’m sure he’ll be right in.”

 

Dick stayed awake even as his mates nodded off. He knew Carwood wouldn’t be able to resist the siren call of their comfortable bed when he was so tired from running around with their son and going to class all day. But Dick couldn’t. Not yet. 

 

When Lewis finally snuck back into their room, Dick moved over and let him take the warm spot. They didn’t say anything. They didn’t need to. They’d been together so long that Dick knew his mate needed to spoon up behind him. It meant Lewis could hide his face but could wrap his arms around him, feel the very real warm and alive body beneath his hands and  _ know  _ the memories were just that. 

 

He wasn’t sure if Lewis slept at all that night but Dick drifted off knowing he did all he could do. When the nightmares came, just being there was the best thing they could offer.

 

o0o

 

Dick had his own nightmares but they weren’t the kind that made him scream himself awake in a clammy sweat. As the snow continued to fall, he threw himself into his work to distract his mind. He stopped going home with Lewis at five so he could stay late into the evening, sometimes losing time all together and forced to sleep in his office. He always made sure to call to soothe his mates worries but even their most sweet or lustful pleading couldn’t tear him from his paperwork some nights.

 

He loved Lewis and Ron, his sweet Carwood, and his precious little bundle that was Gabriel, but there were nights he couldn’t face them. There were nights where the weight on his shoulders and the loss of his full pack were too much. As the snow fell faces started coming back to him. Hoobler, Jackson,  _ Hall _ . The SS Omega boy. He couldn’t handle himself some days and he didn’t want his family to see them that way.

 

And they understood in a way that was more than he had any right to ask for. 

 

On this snowy night in particular, Dick buried himself in a stack of contracts that needed revising and reviewing and turned the clock away from him. He let himself get lost in the process and only shook himself out of his trance when his office door opened. 

 

“Hey,” Carwood greeted softly, lugging in a fat leather bag.

 

Dick turned the clock back around and saw it was almost midnight. “What are you doing here?”

 

“You forgot to call,” Carwood scolded lightly as he shook the snow off his jacket. He took off his hat and gloves, laying them on one of the desks as he walked up to his mate’s desk. He put the bag on the clean corner and unzipped it. “I know you have pillows squirreled away in here but I brought you a blanket.”

 

Dick couldn’t help but smile when his mate pulled out the flannel blanket Bull had sent him for his birthday. It had been unexpected and most welcome. It got tossed onto the couch with an expert twist of the wrist and then Carwood pulled out two tinfoil covered plates. “Car, honey-”   
  


“Don’t honey me,” Carwood tisked as he laid the plates on the desk. “I brought you plenty and I want a clean plate when you come home.” A third, smaller plate came out and was stacked on top of the shiny heap. He tapped a finger on it. “Don’t call me a housewife, but I made you some cookies.”

 

Dick leaned back in the chair. He took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t call. I meant to.”

 

“I know.”

 

“I thought I’d get this done,” he lied.

 

“No you didn’t,” Carwood corrected with a knowing look. 

 

Dick winced. “I ate?”

 

That got him a narrowed glare. “No you didn’t.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Dick repeated earnestly.

 

“That I believe,” Carwood crooned, stepping past the desk to lean down and give him a chaste kiss. It was sweet and it felt like a balm on Dick’s very soul. His Omega’s fingers lingered on his cheek, rubbing his jaw. “Just try to get some rest, and eat.” He glanced at the papers and gave his mate a small smile. “We’ll miss you tonight. I’ll kiss Lewis twice for you.”

 

Dick leaned in for another peck. “And?”   
  


Carwood grinned and patted his cheek. “And I’ll leave an extra hickey on Ron. You can find out where when you get home.”

 

“You’re an angel,” Dick declared, giving his mate’s hip a playful pat.   
  


 

Carwood gave him one more peck. “I’ll see you tomorrow, make sure Lew eats a real breakfast when he gets in.”

 

“I will,” Dick promised, already missing the man’s warmth as he stepped away. “Thanks for dinner.”

 

Carwood waved him off as he put back on his hat, tucking his scarf in more firmly before he put back on his gloves. “Yeah, yeah, you big lug. If we didn’t look out for you, you’d starve to death. Enjoy your work.”

 

He was almost out the door when Dick called to him. “Car?”

 

He paused, one hand on the knob and the other adjusting his hat. “Mm?”

 

“I love you.”

 

Carwood beamed at him and his smile was just as bright as the first day he’d seen it. It still made his heart flutter. “Love you too, Dick. See you tomorrow.”

 

o0o

 

The first day it snowed, Ron spent a long time staring out their bedroom window. He dug out one of Lewis’s fine liquors he’d procured from the Eagle’s Nest because it had seemed appropriate to drink the spoils of the war that haunted him. The snow was beautiful. Even in his detached state he could see that. He watched the flakes but he didn’t see the buildings or the street. He saw messy foxholes and splintered trees, the echo of mortars still ringing in his ears.

 

Ron took a long drink and sucked the scotch between his teeth, letting it burn down his throat. One sip became another, a gulp, and then a second glass. He looked down into the street and saw a family carrying a pine tree into their house, and when he blinked it was haggard paratroopers hauling heavy branches onto their foxholes. The images blurred and he growled to himself, slamming down the second drink. 

 

Laughter drew him downstairs. He polished off a third drink before he sought it it out. Carwood had the front door open and was standing there on the porch with Gabriel in his arms. Their son had on a sweater and a hat, his hands grabbing at the thick snowflakes as he squealed in delight. Ron found himself drawn to it and stood there with him, listening to his son’s happy noises as his fingers got red from the cold

 

“Look at him, he loves the snow,” Carwood chuckled, taking Gabriel’s hand and pressing it to his mouth to warm it. “I know, pup, it’s chilly. You raised such a fuss to touch it and the window wasn’t good enough. Sounds good right about now doesn’t it?”

 

Gabriel stubbornly kept grabbing at the flakes.

 

“Just like his father,” Carwood teased, looking to his mate. But Ron’s gaze was on the neighbors down the street who had just pulled up in their truck. They had bought two trees to haul into their house. The father and his kids piled out of the truck and a couple men came out of the house to help. It was quite a cute little scene in Carwood’s opinion but Ron was glowering like his very eyes could set the trees aflame. “What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’re having another one of your silent feuds? Does the other side at least know this time?”

 

It wasn’t uncommon for one of the neighbors to do something small that irked Ron and sparked impressive but passive aggressive feuds that usually ended up with his “enemy” stopping by and begging a confused Dick for forgiveness for whatever he did. Ron usually got the poor fellas so turned around they’d arrive on their doorstep without a tie or missing a cuff-link, hat skewed and sleepless circles under their eyes. Carwood wasn’t sure exactly what Ron did to the neighbors whose late night arrivals woke Gabriel or who stole one of the many papers Lewis had subscribed to the house but whatever numerous, minuscule things he did to slowly drive them crazy were effective.

 

Ron didn’t answer him.

 

Carwood kissed Gabriel’s cool cheek. “If he loves this, he’s going to go crazy for a decorated tree. We’ll have to hang the bulbs high up just in case he army crawls under it. Won’t we, Gabe? Yes we will.”

 

“No we won’t,” Ron grunted.

 

Carwood raised a brow at him. “You don’t think  _ your  _ son is going to go for everything shiny?” 

 

  
“There won’t be a tree,” Ron stated simply. 

 

Carwood frowned tightly. “Excuse me?”

 

“I don’t want any of that bullshit in my house,” Ron spat, still glaring at the trees as the family took them out of the truck. “No trees. No bulbs. Leave the Christmas bullshit to the civilians.”

 

Carwood clutched Gabriel closer on instinct, cradling him away from the cold. “We  _ are  _ civilians now, Ron.”

 

Ron’s eyes slid to him and he could see the haze in his eyes, the high flags of color on his cheeks. “Don’t bring a tree in here.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re all worked up about, we had Christmas last year…” Carwood trailed off thoughtfully, idly kissing the top of his son’s head. “Oh, I guess not. We were kind of wrapped up preparing for Gabe. Well, this year we will.”

 

“No.”

 

“God, you’re serious about this, aren’t you?” 

 

“ _ Yes _ .”

 

“You’re drunk is what you are,” Carwood observed with a distasteful sneer. It wasn’t often Ron got drunk with his high tolerance and he wasn’t exactly there but he was close enough to loosen his tongue. Carwood didn’t mind Lewis and Ron dipping into the liquor to calm their nerves or help get to a dreamless sleep but it was barely past noon.

 

“Three drinks is not drunk,” the Alpha pointed out. “Now get back inside. He’s freezing.”

 

“Don’t,” Carwood tisked, heading back inside and ready to slap the door in the man’s face. “Whatever’s going through your head, don’t take it out on me. Or Christmas. We’re getting a tree and doing the whole holiday, Ron.”

 

“No we’re  _ not _ ,” he bit out.

 

Carwood rolled his eyes at his mate’s stubbornness. “Give me one good reason.”

 

Ron tried to level him with one of his stares but they’d long ago stopped unsettling him. He shot his own look back and hiked Gabriel up to sit on his hip, ignoring his pup’s pawing hands on his shirt. “That’s what I thought. Christmas is happening this year, Ron.”

 

“No. Christmas.”

 

“Stubborn and drunk,” Carwood scoffed quietly. “Go lay down. Lunch will be ready soon.”

 

o0o0o0o

 

Once December hit, Lewis and Dick came home to quiet dinners and silent, foreboding looks between Ron and Carwood. The two spoke civil enough when they  _ did  _ speak and they still took their turn with the dishes, with Gabriel, and they said goodnight politely enough. They passed the salt and folded the laundry but their conversations were strangely absent.

 

Dick noticed it first. The long, passionate kisses between his two mates turned into chaste cheek busses. Ron’s little love marks disappeared from Carwood’s throat and thighs and Carwood stopped making an extra cup of coffee in the morning. 

 

Lewis noticed the animosity when one night Ron decided to play with Gabriel after Carwood had announced it was bath time and the Omega had promptly (but gently) swooped their child up out of his father’s hands with little more than a glare. Ron’s jaw had tightened but he’d bitten his tongue and went to the back porch to smoke for a long while. 

 

It became painfully obvious when things got heated in the bedroom between them all and they ended up pairing off, Ron keeping at arm’s length from Carwood and vice versa. 

 

There was something going on between them but neither said a word about it. They smiled and assured their mates that everything was fine and went about their day. But that could only last so long with tension clogging up the house. 

 

o0o

 

Ron drove himself, Carwood, and the bundled up pup into New York for some upscale food and books for his classes. They both needed to get out of the house. Unfortunately, it was with each other. Carwood planned to buy gifts for their mates, along with some new clothes for Gabriel, but he didn’t tell Ron that. He didn’t need the Alpha moping and scaring salesgirls off. Maybe he would have a bunch of decorations delivered to the house.

 

The city was lit up for the holidays and the store windows were packed, decorated to the brim with extravagance. They were lucky to be there after dark.

 

“I know, sweetie, look!” Carwood cooed as Gabriel flailed his hands at the lights dangling from the light post. “So many lights! We’ll have lots of shiny things at home soon.” He kissed his cold cheek before tugging his hat down around his ears. “Just promise you’re not going to yank them all down.” Gabriel beamed at him and he sighed. “Yeah, I know, you’ll do it the first chance you get. Now where’s Papa, huh?”

 

Ron was hanging back and watching a gaggle of siblings in front of one of the brightly lit store windows. It was full of fur coats and jewels, high end toys painted all colors of the rainbow. Two of the older girls were all but pressing their face against the glass as they awed over the clothes inside the store. Three boys had toy guns and were pretending to shoot at one another with noises and all.

 

It would have been sweet except for the baby girl of the group, no more than seven in all her ribbons and ringlets and fur trimmed dress, was sobbing. Her brothers kept pushing at her and tugging at her doll, laughing cruelly as they shoulder blocked her with each pass. She was crying for them to stop, face blotchy and fat tears dripping off her wobbling chin. 

 

Ron visibly flinched when one of the bigger boys finally tripped her up and stole the doll right out of her hands. She hit the pavement and wailed, stockings ripping at her knees to show off bright red blood. 

 

Finally, the Omega mother appeared with a swarm of other well-to-do mothers and rolled her eyes. “Sarah, for goodness sake, I told you not to play with your brothers. Look what you did to your pretty new outfit.” The mother tugged her scarf tighter around her throat. “Well? Sarah? Get  _ up _ .”

 

Ron finally turned away and came toward them. Carwood wanted to comfort him but the bitterness from their fights clogged up his throat. Ron silently cupped Gabriel’s face and pecked his head, eyes closing briefly as he breathed in his delicate scent. There was genuine pain written over his mate’s face and Carwood decided to cut the night short before he was stressed too thin.

 

“Ready to go home?” Carwood asked softly. “I’ll drive.”

 

Ron nodded gratefully but didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. 

 

o0o

 

Carwood knew he was being petty getting all the decorations while Ron was overnight in Long Island but he forced himself to do it anyway. They had fought in hushed whispers since November about Christmas and he wasn’t going to budge. It was the fifth already, it was now or nothing. He’d tried to get Ron to give him real reasons besides scowls and glowers but he only ever go the same answer.

 

_ ‘No Christmas.’ _

 

Ron was being ridiculously stubborn and if he couldn’t voice it it properly and he wanted to play his old captain persona then he could go on and do that. But he’d be doing it surrounded by bulbs and garland. Carwood paid one of his college friends to bring by a tree and he hauled it in himself. He hoped next year they’d all go pick a tree together, this time with two pups in tow. 

 

Gabriel was on his back rolling around like a happy little sausage in his playpen. He couldn’t quite sit up yet but he seemed content enough to play with his feet and flail around with his stuffies. He was nestled amongst pillows to keep him from rolling into the plastic siding but other than that he was all wild motion. 

 

By the time Carwood had mostly decorated the tree with flowy silver stringlets and colored glass bulbs, Gabriel had tuckered himself out enough for his afternoon nap. He got put up in the nursery and Carwood returned to his merrymaking. He turned on the radio to a program performing Christmas songs and he gave a little triumphant nod. He was going to make a roast, have tinsel, and a Christmas tree with all the fixings and Ron could go to hell if he had a problem with it.

 

And he did. 

 

Carwood heard the front door open and braced himself for the fight to come. He turned away from the tree (which was damn beautiful, in his opinion) and crossed his arms over his chest, digging his bare heels into the hardwood with a wide stance. He was ready for anything. 

 

Except for the way Ron’s face paled and his jaw dropped. And then the angry flush. “Carwood!”

 

“Your son is sleeping,” Carwood stated firmly, though he found it disconcerting the way his mate’s hands clenched into trembling fists.

 

Ron sucked his teeth and glared at the opulent tree. It was gleaming in the lamp light and its blatant beauty stung him. His eyes danced to the few bits of holly that had been put about, gaze lingering on the radio. He strode over to Lewis’s extravagant bar and pulled out the darkest whiskey they owned, bottle trembling just slightly as he poured out full tumbler. It was downed without a wince, another immediately poured.

 

Carwood sighed, shoulders slumping. Lewis and Ron both drank so heavily around this time of year. He didn’t blame them but now wasn’t the time. “Is that how we’re going to resolve this? With liquor?” 

 

The radio was loud in the silence between them.  _ ‘Christmas eve will find you where the love light gleams. I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams…’ _

 

Ron flinched before downing the drink, eyes clenched up tight as the glass clacked against the polished wood. “Christ, Carwood, can’t you hear it?”

 

Carwood frowned, glancing at the radio. “Hear what?”

 

“The Germans,” Ron grit out. “Every time one of those ridiculous songs comes on, all I hear are the Krauts in the forest. Singing, mocking us, reminding us of how surrounded we were.”

 

Carwood uncrossed his arms with another sigh through his nose. He walked over to the radio and flipped it off. Yes, he remembered clearly, how could he ever forget? Christmas in Bastogne had been miserable at best, frightening at worst. The bitter, bone-deep cold and desperation and the constant hunger. The horror of knowing you could be shelled any moment, day or night, of not knowing if you’d see the sun again. They all suffered from the shadows of those memories. On cold nights they’d huddle close to each other and bundle up, even when they managed to sleep their bodies remembered the terror. 

 

The nights it snowed were the worst. 

 

Carwood shook his head and scrubbed a hand over his eyes. “ _ No _ . Ron, no, I’m not doing it like this. The silent and brooding act won’t cut it this time. I’d give you anything, you know that. But I’m not giving up Christmas.”

 

“What’s so special about it?” Ron demanded hotly, knuckles white as he gripped the bar edge.

 

“It’s normal,” Carwood countered. “It’s a good thing, Ron! What’s so special about it? Well what’s so damn awful? Being together, celebrating our family and everything we’ve worked for a little while with some food and a tree?”   
  


 

Ron’s shoulders hunched and he almost felt bad. “Can’t you just do what I ask? For once?”

  
“Why?” Carwood shot back. “Because I’m your Omega and that’s what I should do?”

 

“That’s not what I meant at all!” Ron’s voice rose in a growl, fingernails scraping on the bar.

 

“Then what did you mean?” he snapped. “You’re not shutting me out this time!”   
  


  
“I don’t shut you out!”

 

“ _ Bullshit _ .”

 

The front door swung open and their heads whipped to see Dick and Lewis rushing in with snow on their jackets.

 

“Christ, you two,” Lewis scolded as he shut and locked the door.

 

“We could hear you from the sidewalk,” Dick tisked, stomping off his shoes on the rug and starting to shed his layers. “Where’s Gabriel?”   
  


“You two are home early,” Carwood remarked tightly. “He’s down for his nap.”   
  


“Not much longer, the way you’re carrying on.” Dick quickly kicked off his shoes and headed toward the stairs. “I’m going to check on him. When I get back, I want to hear exactly what has gotten into you both. Cool your heads.”

 

Lewis hung up his coat and watched their Alpha head up the steps. He looked between his mates and took note of their tight jaws and tense shoulders. “Do either of you want to tell me what’s going on?” He looked to the tree and his face broke out in a smile. “Aw, sweetheart, did you and pup do all this? The tree looks great.”

 

Ron scoffed and poured himself half a glass, taking a hearty gulp. His cheeks were red and his head swam briefly but it would take a lot more liquor to erase the memories of war. Lewis ignored him and went to the tree, curious fingers bumping against the silver strings and tracing the more intricate of the glass bulbs. His smile faded into something softer, more distant. 

 

“Been awhile since I had a Christmas,” Lewis admitted quietly. The December before had been swamped in the joy of having his first born son and making plans, the one before that in a hellpit. 

 

“I said the same thing,” Carwood pointed out calmly. “I think it’s high time we had a Christmas as a family. And next year, we can invite the pack. We can make our own traditions, do what we want-”   
  


“I don’t  _ want  _ a Christmas,” Ron spat, hackles rising. “We don’t need a pointless holiday to be grateful to have each other.”

 

“I can see what you mean, we don’t need an excuse,” Dick threw in as he made his way down the steps. “Gabe’s sleeping soundly.”

 

Carwood sighed in relief. He hadn’t meant to raise his voice and wake their son. He laid a hand over his belly and hoped the stress of all this wasn’t hurting his other little one.

 

“See?” Ron nodded toward Dick. “He understands.”

 

Dick made a face as he walked into the living room, standing between his tense mates. “I don’t though. Is that what all this has been about? You don’t want Christmas and Car does?”

 

“You three act like you don’t remember the last Christmas we all shared together,” Ron pointed out, lip starting to draw back. “Starving, freezing to death.”

 

It was rare Ron opened up about the war. Hell, it was scarce for any of them to. They had folded the horrors away like laundry and decided to concentrate on the good - their son, the lives they were building, their new jobs, good food, a house they owned with heating and indoor plumbing and everything they’d daydreamed about. 

 

“Of course we remember,” Dick murmured, blinking to refocus his gaze as he pulled himself away from the memories of snow and foxholes. 

 

“I’m not asking for something obscene, Ron,” Carwood insisted. “Our children will  _ never  _ know Bastogne but they  _ will  _ have good Christmas memories with their fathers. I’m not going to let the war spoil this for our kids.”

 

Ron polished off his drink with a hiss. “These people. These fucking  _ people _ .”

 

“Ron,” Lewis sighed knowingly, getting curious looks from his other mates. 

 

“These people walk around gawking at those ugly store windows and buying absurd amounts of things they don’t even  _ need  _ to impress people who don’t give a shit about them and their spoiled, bratty kids,” Ron growled turning to face them but his head was lowered, bangs falling over his closed eyes as he forced the words out. “They’ll never know or care that we risked our lives for them. We  _ gave  _ them their Christmas and they’ll never give a shit how much blood is on our hands from it. This bullshit holiday...it’s wasteful and full of greedy bastards trying to outdo each other with money they didn’t earn and-”

 

Ron cut himself off with a near inaudible whine. He dug the heel of his palm into his eyes and something like a sob stuck in his throat. “They’re fucking  _ selfish _ . They have no idea what it was like, what we gave up to protect them. Greedy, disgusting little fucking monsters. I don’t want to be like that. I don’t want our children to be like that.”

 

Dick rushed up to his mate before he collapsed, catching the Alpha in his arms and cradling him. Ron clung to him with desperate, harsh fingers and buried his face in his shoulders. “Shh, sweetheart.”

 

Ron whined wordlessly and sank into him, his whole body shuddering as he fought off tears. Carwood’s heart shattered as he watched his mate crumple under the wave of raw emotion he’d smothered up for so long. He’d been so blind in his attempt to create a Christmas for Gabriel that he hadn’t thought of how deep the pain went. While he’d had Dick and Lewis nearby, Ron hadn’t been really with them then. He’d suffered Bastogne alone without the firm comfort of a mate bond. Their relationship had been so young then, so fragile. The shelling, the Germans mocking them with their festive singing, the long nights…

 

Ron had suffered most of it alone without a pack. While Carwood had snuggled up with his Omega boys, his not-yet-mate had been burrowed in his own foxhole fighting off the cold and loneliness of loving three men who he wasn’t sure loved him back. It wasn’t Christmas Ron hated, it was the idea of it. It was the careless way civilians took it for granted.

 

"You think you're the only one who goes back to Bastogne when it gets cold, Ron?" Carwood laid a protective hand over his belly, blanching at the harsh memory of David’s attack and  _ Foy  _ and the ice. Hoobler, Bill and Joe’s legs...

 

"We go there too,” Lewis admitted, fingers still wrapped around a bulb although maybe a bit too tight. “None of us will forget but the kids are innocent of all that."   
  


  
“Our pups deserve a Christmas like the ones we used to have,” Carwood pressed, hating the way Ron clung to Dick like he would break apart without him. “Better than.”

 

Dick cupped Ron’s nape and nuzzled into his hair, rumbling softly to soothe him. Ron hid his face for a few long, tense minutes but eventually his hands unclenched. He rubbed his cheek against Dick’s should with a heartbreakingly soft noise and all three of them felt the pull on their heartstrings. Carwood and Lewis walked over and laid their hands on Ron’s back, brushing noses and cheeks against him. 

 

Ron didn’t often apologize but the look on his face more than made up for it. 

 

“We can teach our children different, Ron,” Carwood promised, rubbing the Alpha’s lower back and pressing a kiss under his jaw. “We can give them a warm Christmas full of love. We owe them that.”

 

“We owe ourselves that,” Lewis added, gentling their mate from Dick’s shoulder so he could see the sincerity in their eyes. Ron’s own eyes were wet and wide, so vulnerable in this moment that all they wanted to do was protect them. “Let’s drink for a good reason this year.”

 

Dick cupped Ron’s jaw and turned his head, smiling at him. He pressed a chaste kiss to his mouth and marveled at the way Ron’s lashes fluttered like this was their first kiss instead of their thousandth. “Come on, magpie. What was all that for if not for this? What did surviving mean if we can’t live now?”

 

Ron finally smiled at him, rubbing their noses as he melted at the old nickname.

 

“Not just surviving.” Carwood’s heart fluttered in excitement as he finally chose the right moment. He took Ron’s hand and laid it on his own stomach, catching all their attention. He smiled bashfully at his mates and he knew he was flushing with relieved happiness as he finally revealed the news. “I’ve caught again.”

 

Ron’s mouth dropped open dumbly and he stared down at his mate’s stomach. “What?”

 

Carwood cupped his nape and rested their foreheads together, sighing. Their eyes fell shut and the tension finally bled from their bodies. “I’m sorry I pushed you. I’m sorry I did all this without actually talking to you. I was the one being selfish. When I found out I caught, I just...I wanted everything to be perfect.”

 

“For our family,” Ron repeated his words back to him with a dawning realization. “Car, baby...why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“What? Gabe’s not enough of an excuse to get a tree?” Carwood teased lightly, drawing one of those mouth quirks out of his mate. He brushed their noses and then their mouths, smiling when Ron’s own relieved noise teased his lips. 

 

“Damn.”   
  


They broke apart, both chuckling at the wide eyed delight on both their mates faces. Dick was the first to break and rush him, scooping him up into his arms and spinning him around. Carwood laughed freely as he was swept off his feet, clinging to his Alpha for fear of being dropped. But Dick would never think of dropping him, not for one moment. 

 

“Jesus!” Lewis exclaimed, smiling so hard it looked painful. He ran both his hands through his hair before throwing himself at Ron, cackling almost madly as he squeezed the Alpha. “Another pup! Holy shit, Ron!  _ Ron _ !”

 

“I know!” Ron laughed, squeezing him back. 

 

“We’re going to be dads!”

 

Ron snorted even as his face as pecked with wet kisses. “We’re already fathers, Lew.”

 

“Twice-dads, then!” Lewis pulled back to shake his mate by the shoulders. “Goddamn! I want to wake Gabe up and tell him but he wouldn’t understand!”

 

Ron got a kick out of seeing Lewis so deliriously happy but he got distracted by the full, open mouth kiss their Omega was sharing with their Alpha. They watched as Dick gradually lowered Carwood back down, smiling mouths fused. 

 

“We have to tell everyone,” Dick gushed when he managed to break the kiss. “We have to make an announcement, get really nice stationary, the whole deal.”

 

Carwood’s jaw started to ache from smiling so hard. “We didn’t do any of that for Gabe, you know.”

 

“We’ll make a big to-do about this one,” Lewis declared firmly, mind already synced with Dick’s as he thought of nice cream colored paper with silver embroidery and flowing black script. “Send it to the whole pack. We’ll make a date and have a giant party with the works. This baby is coming into the world in style.”

 

“That’s a little over the top, don’t you think?” Carwood fumbled.

 

“Baby, darling,” Lewis purred, stepping up and taking his hands to pull him into a kiss. “The whole pack needs to know. We’re going to have a damn good Christmas, and then we’re going to have an even better shindig with all your favorites. Everyone who can will come, I’ll pay for it all.”

 

“Lew,” Carwood sighed fondly.

 

“I want them all to meet Gabriel,” Lewis insisted earnestly, then his cocky smile returned. “And we’ll show you off.”

 

Carwood blushed as his mate cupped his hips and started to kiss at his throat. He soaked up the affection and pressed close to his Alpha. “Yeah? I’ll probably be fat as a house by then.”

 

“Even better,” Dick insisted, feeling such content at the sight of Lewis’s blissful face and the easy body language in all his mates. They were thrumming with excited energy but the negativity from earlier was long gone. Carwood was passed from one Alpha to the other for more sweet kisses, their hands so worshipfully rubbing his stomach. “Your boys will love it. David always dotes on you when you’re pregnant.”

 

“Because he’s afraid I’ll pop any second,” Carwood chuckled, running a hand through Ron’s hair as the Alpha scented his throat. He dragged him up into a lingering kiss, licking at those pink lips and writing an apology with every swipe of his tongue. “Forgive me?”   
  


  
“Always,” Ron promised, fingers rubbing little circles along his soft belly. There was such tenderness in his eyes as he looked at his mate. It took Carwood’s breath away. “Let’s have Christmas. I want to give Gabriel everything.” 

 

Carwood’s heart fluttered and he promised himself he wasn’t going to cry. It was the pregnancy. He didn’t cry over things like this. But then Ron pulled him into a hug and he let the man’s shirt soak up any evidence of it. He found such solace in the arms of his mate and he’d missed him so much the past few weeks. 

 

“I’ll try not to hold back so much,” Ron whispered in his ear, each word coming out like it had to be pried. "I can't promise anything.

 

“Just try,” Carwood muttered into his collar. “That’s all I ask.”

 

Lewis was beaming at them like they were a couple of puppies or a basket of kittens - or a particularly large bottle of whiskey. “Are we done? Can we celebrate now?” He sniffed the air. “Do I smell a roast?”

 

o0o0o0o   
  


The room stank like sex and stale cigarettes but it was Joe’s apartment and there was nowhere else George would rather be. Mostly because he’d contributed to those scents, and the sweet curl of Omega beneath the Alpha musk was  _ him _ . And that was exactly the way George liked it. He trusted Joe despite their distance but he always did a sniff around when he came to stay. Joe wasn’t the kind of person who would hide his actions so when he didn’t smell any trace of Omega in the apartment he believed it.

 

And how could he think Joe was sleeping around when he was so Goddamn zealous every time he visited?

 

George moaned around his smoke, squirming as the Alpha’s fangs worked into his skin. “Do you mind? I’m trying to read this.”

 

George was half propped up on a mound of pillows against the headboard, body buzzing with his recent orgasm and the deliciously long  _ thirty-fucking-minutes _ they’d been knotted together. They’d spent the time kissing and lazily scenting, rocking against one another and gasping at the tug of Joe’s knot against his tight rim. George’s mouth still pleasantly ached from his Alpha’s fangs and fierce kisses. Said Alpha was between his thighs where he belonged, the sheet tangled around his waist as he laid on his belly. Joe’s eyes were closed but his hands were roaming aimlessly over the Omega, mouth worrying a deep bruise into his hip. Joe couldn’t often pry out the words that were needed, but he was so overly tactile that George sometimes would let disagreements slide under the man’s earnest touches. 

 

Joe was worrying his fangs into his hip like he planned on leaving more than a hickey. They’d  _ just  _ finished their second round of the day and George had thought it was safe to read one particular letter he’d found in the Alpha’s heaping stack of mail. Joe grunted around a mouthful, fingers rubbing soothingly down the Omega’s thigh.

 

“You trying to get me going again?” George griped, his cock barely dry from their last round but twitching with the Alpha so close and yearning. “Christ. You’re the horniest one-legged Alpha I know.”

 

“Better be the only one,” Joe mumbled against his hip, tongue licking away the hurt from his teeth.

 

“Insatiable animal,” George laughed, smoke pouring past his lips. He held up the letter again. The stationary was crisp and fancy. He thought it was a wedding invitation at first but the silvery scrawl had a much different message. His mouth dropped open and he barely managed to catch the cigarette before it burnt his chest. His lips gradually curled into a grin and he smacked Joe on top of the head with the letter. The Alpha’s eyes popped open in a glare and he spitefully nipped at the bruise. 

 

“Guess what?” 

 

Joe’s silent glare only got him half a dozen more bops on the head with the letter. “Hey! Knock it off.”

 

“Lip’s having another pup!”

 

Joe’s annoyed scowl curved into one of those quiet, soft smiles that the Omega loved. “No shit? Good for them.”

 

“Holy fucking Christ,” George cursed breathlessly, jaw aching from how hard he was smiling. He read the letter two times over, heart fluttering in pure joy for his friend. It had been too long since he’d visited and he was long overdo. They both were. “Yeah, they’re gonna’ throw a big party in spring and all the pack’s invited.” He moved the letter and narrowed his eyes at the Alpha, cigarette bobbing. “You’re going.”

 

“Don’t gotta’ convince me. I haven’t even seen the first pup yet.” Joe rubbed his cheek against the man’s thigh, eyes hooded. He’d still been in the hospital when Lipton had his first kid and he still regretted not being able to make the trip out to see him. A lot of the pack had made it out to New Jersey for those first few months to congratulate their Pack Omega and meet the little one. George had sent gifts and flowers from both of them.

 

George had taken care of a lot of things while Joe had been laid up in the hospital. 

 

“Another one, wow,” George awed, setting the letter aside and chuckling around another puff of smoke. “Wonder which of the lucky Alphas it is this time?”

 

“Don’t matter none,” Joe hummed, moving up and laying his head on the Omega’s stomach. It had grown softer since he’d come back to the states and he liked it. He had a lot more to bite and mark up when George was all squishy. “All the kids he has are theirs. Not gonna’ change anything.”

 

“Changes his hair color,” George remarked, plucking the smoke out from between his lips. “I know one thing. All those kids are gonna’ be drop dead gorgeous. Wonder how many Lip will have by the end of it?” He sucked in a thoughtful drag. “Bet as many as he can. Lip really loves being a mom, grown guys or otherwise. You should see him with Gabe. It looks so easy.”

 

“Kids are a handful,” Joe snorted, remembering all of his nieces and nephews. He turned his head and dug his chin into the Omega’s belly. “You ever want any?”

 

George shrugged. “Sure. Never really thought about it much but yeah, why not? I’m a great uncle. I’d be a good mom, I think. Gabe loved me. Of course, Gabe loved Web too so no accounting for taste there.”

 

“I want as many as possible,” Joe butted in, grinning up at the other.

 

“Fair. You Toyes and your big family.” George chuckled and ran his palm over the Alpha’s smooth cheek. “I like it.”

 

Joe hummed with a mischievous glint in his dark eyes. “Wouldn’t it be something to show up to that party and be caught?”

 

George’s brows pinched up thoughtfully, uncertain what he meant.

 

“You know,” Joe insisted, taking the Omega’s hand and bussing a kiss across his palm. “If you and Lip both had a bun in the oven?”

 

He got a sharp smack on the mouth for that and he startled, blinking rapidly up at his lover. 

 

“I ain’t having no pup of yours until we bond, Joe Toye,” George informed him firmly, holding up his hand and twitching one particular finger. “There’s gonna’ be a ring on this finger before that shit happens, you hear me?”

 

Joe groaned and flopped back down, pretending to pout. It was a playful argument between them. Their potential bond was strong, thrumming between them even now, but he’d been in the hospital for so long that the war had ended and he was still stuck there. They hadn’t had time to court, not really. They’d only had time to fall into bed, for George to meet his family and seamlessly integrate himself into it. His sisters loved him, his Ma loved him, and Joe loved him though he’d only managed to say it in the quiet of the night when he was sure the Omega was asleep.

 

They were committed to each other in every way that mattered save for one. And George was insistent that once Joe was back to full strength he gave him a proper courtship. Dates, gifts, meeting the rest of the Luz pack, all of it. 

 

_ “Maybe once you stop using all your energy to fuck me silly and start using it to get your life back on track, we can bond, Toye.” _

 

Joe turned his head and kissed the Omega’s stomach. “Let me take you out to dinner tonight?”

 

George finished off his cigarette and stubbed it out in the glass beside the bed. “That’s more like it.”

 

o0o0o0o

 

**_December 22nd_ **

 

The living room was warm. Dick had roused up a fire in the hearth and had stuck in a few cinnamon sticks that seemed to chase away the chill of the night. It had been snowing since the morning and they decided to spend the day together with the curtains closed. It was one thing to feel the chill but quite another to see the flurries and pile up of snow. If they stared at it too long, it gave them the jitters. 

 

Instead they sequestered themselves away to enjoy one another. 

 

Evening had set in. The radio was on and Lewis idly flipped between channels when he got bored of the news or the stories, or the music. He lazily smoked and read the paper, ignoring the paperwork he had to sign piled up on the side table. A bottle of Vat 69 was there as well, along with a glass tumbler. He was at one end of the couch while the rest was occupied by Carwood’s sprawled form, his head cushioned on the Alpha’s lap. He had a pile of letters on the coffee table and was purring as he went through them. His lids drooped in the lazy atmosphere but he carefully read every one, a constant smile on his face.

 

Lewis had sent out the fancy baby announcements and all the pack had written back. Some with announcements of their own, some with new last names, but all with overflowing joy. They sent presents for Gabriel, even those who had already sent some when he was born, and they wrote promises of more for his second when the party came.

 

Dick had his own kind of paperwork piled up on his side table. They were notes and journal entries from his own hand. He was settled most comfortably on his favorite armchair with a large notepad in his lap. He scratched down memories and thoughts from the war, putting the images to ink to later turn into much more. 

 

Ron was sitting at his feet, back braced against chair. He had his legs spread with a cushioned blanket laid out between them, and on that blanket was their little one. Gabriel was chasing his father’s hands, clasping at his fingers when he caught them so he could stick them in his mouth. He flailed his chubby limbs and gurgled, trying out sounds of triumph when he snatched Ron’s fingers.

 

“Gabriel,” Ron sing-songed in a low croon, picking up the stuffed animal David had sent to them with his letter. It was handmade - a blue and white animal with fins and a long tail, zig-zag white stitching for the mouth and black button eyes. Their son seemed to love it. Either that or he could smell Uncle David’s scent on it. “Gabriel. That’s it. Up, up.”

 

Gabriel pushed at the blanket, flailing his legs. Ron took pity on their boy and slipped a hand along his back, helping him sit up. Gabriel squealed in happiness and clung to the shark stuffie, mushing his face against it. 

 

Dick chuckled fondly and let his hand drop down into Ron’s hair, petting through the thick tresses. Ron rumbled happily and leaned into it, head falling back to expose his throat. “My handsome boys.”   
  


Ron tisked but his cheeks got pink. He picked his head back up when Gabriel seized his hand and started rubbing his face into his palm. 

 

“Precious,” Carwood cooed, hand falling to his belly. His eyes drifted to the sparkling tree in the corner. There were a few chickens in the oven, a casserole cooling, and Dick’s first attempt at a pie in their home. He’d gotten the recipe right from his mother and if it went well then he was going to bake another for Carwood’s mother. They were going to take her a plate of leftovers the next day at the high end home they’d set her up in and they were all excited to tell her the good news.

 

Lewis lowered his paper, cigarette dangling between his lips. “You writing a novel over there?”   
  


“Matter of fact, yes,” Dick retorted with a proud little grin. He scratched along Ron’s scalp one more time before he picked back up his pencil. “I’m putting together a little something for a book.”

 

“Ooo, a  _ book _ ,” Lewis shifted his paper to look at Gabriel. “Here that, angel? Your daddy’s writing a  _ book _ . How educated.”

 

Carwood patted his mate’s knee. “Lew. Be sweet.”

 

“Sweet as sugar, baby doll,” Lewis drawled, smoke pouring out of his lips. “I think it’s nice. About time someone in this house gets a little cultured.”

 

Carwood pinched his thigh, suddenly looking wide awake. “Hey! I’m in university, what does that make me?”

 

Lewis yelped and nearly dropped his cigarette. He snorted and folded the paper, plucking the smoke out from his mouth. “I think that makes us all damn lucky. You’ll be the smartest right here next to Hemingway. And the accountant.”

 

Ron shot him a glare. He rubbed his son’s back and ducked his head down to look into his matching eyes. “You’re going to have to get used to Daddy over there. He’s quite a prick.”

 

Carwood grabbed the teddy bear Luz had sent and tossed it at his mate. Ron’s eyes went wide when he got smacked square in the temple with it. “Language!”

 

“If you talk to him like a child,  _ he’ll  _ talk like a child,” Ron remarked, though his serious expression slipped after a moment when Gabriel gurgled at him. “That’s right, little man. You know the deal.”

 

Carwood rolled his eyes and shook the letter he was reading at him. “The first curse he says,  _ you’re  _ the one getting spanked.”

 

Ron looked at him, brow furrowed and mouth pinched in what looked like solemn thought. “Is that a promise?”

 

Lewis’s belly laugh nearly shook the Omega off his mate. It filled the room just like the warmth of the fire and they were nourished from it. Yes, this was what Christmas time was supposed to be about. There were a few gifts under the tree, the ones for each other not yet wrapped. Dinner in the oven, surrounded by their mates, with their pup smiling and flapping his hands towards his new teddy bear. It was cozy even in the big house.

 

And when they put Gabriel down for the night, Dick was happy to see Carwood and Ron fall asleep face to face with their legs and fingers tangled. He shared a smile with Lewis and they blanketed their mates, both so relieved they could put to bed at least  _ some  _ of the nastiness left over from the war.

 

They weren’t going to let it spoil their family like it had spoiled their youth.

  
  



End file.
